A little before and after motivation

So to keep myself inspired, I decided to go back and look at some old photos. Many of you might not know is that when I graduated college, I joined Weight Watchers for the first time. I started that journey at 195 lbs and got down to and maintained 155 lbs. I became a Lifetime Member at Weight Watchers, but then stopped doing my monthly weigh ins.  I know that Weight Watchers can work and I know that I am motivated this time. I just need to remind myself that I never want to go back to that size.

Taken in the Summer of 2005. This was between Junior and Senior year of College.

Thursday- I started Thursday feeling empowered after my successful week. When you struggle with your weight, one of the biggest challenges can be going to a party that you haven't prepared the food for, so I was thrilled with my weight loss after a party last weekend. For breakfast I had my usual Almond Banana Smoothie. I am loving this breakfast because it is a little sweet but full of protein and fruit. For lunch I brought a leftover serving for the Lemon Chicken and Broccoli and a small spinach salad. I also made sure that I had some cut up vegetables for a snack during the day. Thursday also started my preparation for my mom coming to visit. Dinner was Lemon Chicken with a sweet potato. A was surprised to find out that the Lemon Chicken was a weight watchers recipe!

Friday - I woke feeling super hungry, so I decided I needed something a little more substantial than my usual smoothie, plus I was out of bananas.

Breakfast Sandwich

1 sandwich thin (3pts)

2 egg whites (1 pt)

1 cup of spinach (0 pt)

Toast the sandwich thin. While it is toasting wilt the cup of spinach and cook the egg whites until solid. I added some whole grain mustard to the sandwich, but that if just my preference.

I went out to lunch with some coworkers. They wanted to get fried rice. I got a lunch special. It was a cup of miso soup, small salad, sashimi and 4 pieces of California roll. I love that it can be easy to stay on track even when I am out to eat. For dinner I wanted to make sure that I made something that was WW friendly for my mom and myself. I also knew that I had some cleaning up to do before she got there so I needed a slow cooker recipe. I found a recipe for Crock Pot Santa Chicken from skinnytaste.com.  I love that it is slow cooker and is only 4pts a serving!!

Saturday - Saturday morning was dress fitting day. For breakfast I made Mom and I some scrambled eggs with beet greens and sun dried tomatoes and English Muffins. I used 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites. So there is a story behind my wedding dress that I am going to tell now. I am not going to post pictures, because I know that Andy reads this blog.

I went to a Brides against Breast cancer event back in July. This was around the time I was deciding that getting heathy might be the best birthday present to myself. So I brought two of my bridesmaids, Allie and Megan. I was not planning on buying but was thinking if I find the dress I am ready to buy. So I tried on a handful of dresses. I put on one that got the reaction from both of them, and I knew this was the dress. There was one issue though....it was too small. Like not able to zip it too small. So there was a seamstress on site that told me it would be no issue to take out the seams and it would be an easy fix. So I bought the dress. Then my mom came down to visit and I tried the dress on for her....and I knew I may have made a huge mistake. She told me she wanted to come down when I went for the fitting. It was then that I knew I needed to make a change. This journey isn't about the wedding dress or being a certain weight for my wedding, but this was the last straw.

At the Brides against Breast Cancer event!

So my mom came down for the fitting. I was getting very nervous, because I had not tried my dress on since August. Allie joined us for the fitting and brought the dress with her. I put the dress on and it zipped....all the way up and I could breath zip! Both my mom and Allie said they were amazed and were worried that the dress would not fit. The lady doing the alterations told me that I need to come back closer too the wedding to do another fitting to make sure we don't have to take the dress in. This was a huge non weight victory. I feel like all the hard work is paying off and the time I am committing to this journey is worth it.

After the dress fitting we continued working on various wedding things. Mom and I kept food very simple we each got one of the new broth bowls at Panera for lunch and we ate some leftover chicken and brussel sprouts for dinner.

Sunday - I showed mom around the farmers market. We had delicious lattes and Chocolate Almond Smoothies for breakfast. We spent most of the day working on registry and wedding stuff. For dinner I made another skinnytaste.com recipe, this time Turkey Chili Taco Soup paired with cornbread. It was super easy to make and delicious. Then we enjoyed the hot tub! I am loving having a hot tub!!

Monday- I worked from home Monday so I could spend a little more time with my mom. For breakfast I made us an egg white scramble with sun dried tomatoes (0pts), caramelized onions and spinach (0 pts) again paired with an English muffin. I also made us coffee with a TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder and milk and a little sugar. For lunch we made turkey sandwiches on sandwich thins loaded up with spinach. Dinner was leftover Turkey Chili Taco Soup. I got a session in with my personal trainer.

Tuesday- Back to normal, chocolate banana smoothie for breakfast. Lunch was leftover Chili with an apple and orange. Dinner was the rest of the left over Fiesta Chicken, spaghetti squash and jalapeños and cheese.

Wednesday - Wednesday I decided to try a different approach to work clothes. I wore black pants with a button down tucked in...a look I have never been super comfortable with. I have gotten so many compliments on my outfit I thought I would share an awkward bathroom selfie! Breakfast was a Banana Chocolate Protein Shake. Lunch was spaghetti squash (0 PP) with jalapeños(0 PP), black beans(2 PP), spinach (0 PP), onions(0 PP), cheese (3 PP) and a lime jalapeno vinegar (0 PP). I also brought an orange, apple and cut up peppers as snacks. For dinner we had steak, fingerling potatoes and spinach salad.

Awkward Bathroom Selfie!

Spaghetti Squash lunch!

Weigh in: This week I gained 0.4 lbs, which was a little disappointing because I tracked all 7 days this week and stayed OP. On to a new week and trying to lose 0.6 lbs so that I can buy some flowers!

Back to basics....measuring and weighing food

So after being a little discouraged with my weigh in results last week I decided to go back to basics. Tracking, weighing and measuring foods. I started this on Wednesday night. I am going back to counting tracking points plus, no more simply filling because I don't feel like I am getting results.

I also have decided that I need to give myself rewards for working on this. So I am trying to figure out some rewards. I want a reward for when I get to 165, 160, getting to Lifetime at Weight Watchers, and eventually. Obviously non-food rewards would be great. I was thinking manicure/pedicure, massage stuff like that. I know that when I get to 165 I am going to buy myself flowers. When I get to 160 I am going to get a manicure/pedicure.  Any one have any suggestions?

Thursday - I made another protein shake that I am calling a Chocolate Almond Shake. For lunch I decided to get a salad at work. I got an Thai Chicken Salad. The salad had a small chicken breast, tomatoes, carrots, sprouts and crunchy noodles on a bed of lettuce. I went to the gym after work to do some weights and cardio. For dinner I kept it simple by making a salad and a tuna salad wrap.

Chocolate Almond Shake

1 banana (0 PP)

1 TBSP almond butter (3 PP)

1 scoop protein powder (1 PP)

8 oz coffee (0 pts)

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (0 pts)

Blend all together in a blender. 

Friday -  I started my morning with another Chocolate Almond Shake (4 pts). I went out to lunch with a coworker and got an Asian Chicken wrap. It ended up being more points that I wanted from one meal, but that happens sometimes when you eat out. For Dinner, we heated up some leftover cauliflower soup, I made small arugula salads and some roasted fingerling potatoes.

Saturday- I started my day with a Almond Protein shake. Then around lunch time I made Andy and I breakfast sandwiches. Mine was a sandwich thin, one egg and a piece of ham crisped up. Saturday was spent doing a lot of work on the house. We have gotten down to the smaller projects. Saturday night we had a cook out at a friends house. I sometimes find events like this the most difficult. I decided before I left that I would only have 2 beers and I would drink a lot of water. I also decided I would be very careful in choosing the food I was eating. I ate a small portion of chicken, lots of green salad, some corn on the cob and some bean salad. It was great hanging with friends and I stuck to my two beers and only water after that!

Sunday - Sunday we ran errands in the morning so I brought some mixed nuts and tangerines in the car. We got Coffee at our favorite coffee place and then came back and made lunch. I had a sandwich thin with turkey, ham, whole grain mustard and arugula. It was delicious and hit the spot perfectly.  I had picked what I thought was an orange off our citrus tree, but it ended up being a grapefruit. I decided to make us a low points drink by juicing the grapefruit and mixing the juice with vodka and soda water. It was tart and refreshing!

Fresh Grapefruit drinks!

We made a stir fry for dinner. The stir fry was pork, bok choy, mushrooms, chillies, carrots, scallions, garlic, ginger all in a hoisen chili garlic sauce. It was tons of veggies which is always great!We didn't really use a recipe so I can't post that, but it ended up being super super spicy! Then we relaxed in the hot tub that is finally working!!

Monday - I started my day with a new smoothie. I ran out of protein powder so I had to change it up.
For lunch I got a Thai Chicken Salad at the cafe. I love that the cafe has such healthy lunch options. It makes life easier knowing that if I don't have time to pack a lunch or just don't want to I have healthy options to choose from. When I got home from work I went for a run around the new neighborhood. For dinner I made a turkey sandwich with whole grain mustard, and an arugula with Fiesta Bean Salad, which I adapted from the original recipe) on top. I was craving something sweet so I ate some thin mints that we had. It was the perfect sweet end to the night.

4 Thin Mints (4 PP) with some milkFi

Fiesta Bean Salad

1 can garbanzo beans (10 PP)

1 can corn (8 PP)

1 red onion diced (0 PP)

1 red pepper diced (0PP)

handful of cherry tomatoes quartered 

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil (14 PP)

Juice from 1 lime

1 clove  garlic minced

Chili Powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. This makes approximately 6 servings at 5 PP per serving. 

Tuesday - I had another almond banana shake. For lunch I brought a small container of cottage cheese, carrots and peppers and a salad. In the salad I had spinach, arugula, cucumbers, scallions, pepper and roasted chickpeas. Roasted chick peas are a great way to add some protein to a salad, especially if you don't have cooked meat on hand. I tried to go to the gym to lift weights, but the gym was crazy busy so I ended up just doing cardio. I ate the leftover pork and bok choy for dinner.

Wednesday- Today is weigh in day....I am actually excited to see how this went with tracking as opposed to simply filling. I started my morning with another almond banana smoothie and coffee. Lunch was a beets and chick pea salad with some carrots and peppers for snacking. For dinner I made a Weight Watchers recipe that I found Lemon Chicken with Broccoli (4 PP). I paired the Lemon Chicken with broccoli with a baked sweet potato (3 PP). It looked like a nice easy recipe that didn't require grocery shopping!

Lemon Chicken with Broccoli and a baked sweet potato

WEIGH IN RESULTS: This week I lost 2.6l bs. This brings my total weight loss to 9 lbs, which is also my 5% mark!

The basics work!

Back to planning and preparing

The end of last week ended up being pretty busy at work. I totally dropped the ball on writing down what I ate on Thursday-Sunday. It was a busy week at work and a busy weekend working on the house. I will try to recap what we ate over the weekend.

Thursday- We had our first guests over for dinner. We made sundried pesto chicken, broccoli and polenta. I tried to keep it easy and quick so that we could enjoy some time with friends. We also took advantage of the cooler weather and used out new Chiminea to toast some marshmallows and make smores!

Friday- For dinner we had our asian chicken salads again, after going to Costco to stock up on meat again.  We planned out what we wanted to work on over the weekend on the house.

Saturday- We got up and immediately ran errands. I grabbed some cashews, waters and tangerines so that we would have snacks and not grab fast food. The best was Home Depot. We were planning on getting a light kit for the fan in our kitchen. Andy found the Clearance section and there was a ceiling fan with light there for $43.00...which is basically the same cost as the light kit!! I made us some paleo pancakes when we got home from errands.  For dinner we ate some leftover thai food that I had brought home from work.

Kitchen with new ceiling fan!

Sunday- We went to the farmers market in the morning to get produce for the week. We got coffee from our favorite coffee stand at the farmers market. It comes from Kay Rico Coffee at the Yellow Green Farmers market in Hollywood, FL. After the farmers market we made some more paleo pancakes. Later in the day I snacked on tangerines, hummus and pepper. For dinner we tried the roaster that the old owner of the house left for us. We used some turkey seasoning that Andy's mom had given me a while ago. We roasted the whole chicken (with no butter...unlike the ones you buy from grocery stores!) To accompany the chicken we had cranberry sauce, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower soup. I wanted a simple soup that didn't use cream or butter. I looked online but wasn't really finding what I wanted so I made my own.

Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower chopped up

1 TBSP olive oil

Curry Powder to tast

Salt and pepper to taste

4 cups Chicken stock

Toss the chopped cauliflower in the oil and curry powder. Roast in the oven at 425 degrees for 40 minutes or until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Put the cauliflower and 2 cups chicken stock in a large pot. I used my immersion blender to puree the chicken stock and cauliflower together. At this point determine how thin you want your soup and add chicken stock to accordingly. Heat the soup and season with salt, pepper and more curry powder.

Roasting out own chicken!

After we ate dinner, Andy and I worked on the bathroom we are making over. We got the countertop and faucet on...here is a little sneak peak!

Before....

After

Monday- I made a protein and blackberry smoothie for breakfast. I also had a tangerine and coffee. For lunch I took some of the chicken from Sunday night, a baked sweet potato and tangerines. I also brought some sparkling water. I had an intense session with my trainer after work and did some cardio after that. To keep dinner simple, we used the leftover chicken to make a southwest chicken salad. We kept it simple by chopping up some romaine, green onions, peppers, radishes, and carrots. We then added the heated up chicken, black beans and salsa. It was a nice simple meal and as I was making dinner I made my salad for lunch the next day!

Tuesday- For breakfast it was the same as Monday morning. For lunch I brought a salad loaded with veggies and some chicken. I brought pomegranate balsamic vinegar for my dressing. I also brought some cut up carrots , apple and tangerine for snacking. After work I went to the gym for some cardio work. I had just started listening to the podcast Serial, so I decided I would walk on a incline for the entire duration of the podcast. It made the work out go a lot faster. For dinner we kept things very simple. Andy made a tuna salad with carrots, scallions, diced jalapeños, sriracha, mustard, a little mayo and whole grain mustard.

Wednesday -  For breakfast it was the same protein smoothie and coffee. For lunch I brought a small salad and a small serving of the tuna salad from the night before. I also brought cut up peppers, tangerines and an apple. I have been trying to focus on bringing snacks so that I am prepared if I get hungry. For dinner Andy and I made spaghetti squash with chicken sausage and tomato sauce. We have been trying to keep dinners simple so that we can focus on getting the house ready. Weigh in was Wednesday night. I was not happy with my results. I gained 0.6 pounds. Lately I feel like I have been very good about staying on program and tracking, yet I keep staying around the same weight.

The ups and downs of trying to get fit...

Keeping on program this week!

Goals for 2015

I have been contemplating what I want to accomplish in 2015. Andy and I talked about this the other night before going to bed. His goals were finish the house stuff, and get married. Those are both happening. I thought about my goals some more and really my main goal is to get healthy and fit. I am hoping that on my 30th birthday I will be comfortable enough to post before and after bikini photos of myself. I am also hoping that I will get to my goal weight before my 30th birthday, maintain it and reach Lifetime at Weight Watchers. These goals will take time dedication  and food planning. I need to start getting creative with my meals so that I don't get bored.

Saturday I went to the farmers market and got some delicious produce: beets, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, salad fixings for asian chicken salads and strawberries. We had the leftover Turkey Robinson and Baked Shroom rice for dinner.

Sunday I went back to an old breakfast favorite. A simple egg sandwich with mustard on a Sandwich Thin with a side of strawberries. I am hoping this week I can get back into my protein and berry shakes for breakfast. Dinner was wings and beer out with Matt after I picked him up from the airport.

Monday I really enjoyed my breakfast sandwich from Sunday, so I made that again. For lunch I took leftover Turkey Robinson and baked shroom rice. Dinner we made steak, sauteed kale with cranberries , although I used pomegranate balsamic instead of regular balsamic and fingerling potatoes roasted in the oven. It was delicious. It was really nice being back at work with everyone else there. I am excited for the New Year at work, I think it will be a great one.

Tuesday I had the same breakfast sandwich and coffee for breakfast with a side of strawberries. For lunch I took the leftover kale, hummus and pretzel thins, ham sandwich, and grapefruit. I like to have stuff to snack on in the afternoon when I get hungry. I got to the gym and did 45 minutes at a 9% incline on the treadmill. I left the grapefruit after my work out because I was starving. I was a hot Sweaty mess after that! For dinner Andy and I ate leftover Turkey Robinson and Baked Shroom rice.

Wednesday I decided that I needed to start with the protein shakes again. I made a protein shake  with EAS Lean 15, strawberries, a little coffee and water. For lunch I brought the rest of the turkey robinson and baked shroom rice, yes the recipe makes an absurd amount!!, carrots, apple and some sparkling water. After work I went to the gym to get some strength training in before my Weight Watchers meeting. I am not expecting to lose an extraordinary amount for 2 reasons: 1) last weigh in was in the morning 2) last weigh in was last Saturday. But I know that I have been focused, so hopefully I see a small weight loss. For Dinner we had Asian Chicken Salad. Below is our recipe for Asian Chicken Salad.

Asian Chicken Salad

4 chicken thighs

1 can Mandarin orange slices

1/4 Chow mein noodles

 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped

1 pepper, sliced

2 green onions, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

1  carrot, peeled onto salad

Place the thighs on a broiler sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. This will ensure they cook through and that the skin gets crispy. While the chicken is cooking, all the vegetables can be cleaned and chopped up. Once the chicken is cooked you can cut the meat off the bone and top the salad with it. We use this dressing which can be found at Whole Foods. Its a delicious mix of sweet and salty. 

I was pleasantly surprised with my weigh in. I managed to lose 1.4 lbs in the short week. We had a member reach her goal weight last night which was inspiring. She told us her story of getting to goal weight 2 times before and how she knows that this time she just cannot let her guard down because she does not want to go through this Journey again. It was great to hear someone else's journey. Looking forward to getting down to my goal weigh in 2015!!

Making some great progress!

Here I come 2015!!

After a week in the sun drinking mudslides, which my mom informed me were 29 pp each, I needed to get back on track. When I got back Monday I went grocery shopping. I planned what we would be eating this week and planned on taking a lunch every day. Tuesday I had a doctors appointment before work, so I know I would need to have breakfast on the go or at work. I decided to get some Danon Lite n Fit Greek Yogurt (power foods). I ate this for breakfast with a tangerine. I also drank some coffee with french vanilla creamer. For lunch I made a simple salad with lettuce, cucumber, peppers, onion, chick peas and raspberry vinaigrette. I think I was most excited about my dinner. I made a baked sweet potato and topped half of it with ground turkey with taco seasoning, sals
a and some shredded cheese. It was delicious and made with power foods, except the cheese! I took the other half for lunch the next day. Tuesday after work I got myself back to the gym for a tough personal training session since I hadn't done anything for about a week.

Loaded sweet potato

Wednesday was New Years Eve. I have never been that big into NYE. Since Andy was working and we still have work today before we can move Monster in, I decided to stay in. I found a recipe for Cranberry Sparklers to make for Andy and I. They were simply blended cranberries, sugar and vodka then topped with a little champagne. Delicious! Thursday I had off of work. I find those days that don't have structure harder to stay on track. We had a lot of errands to run, so we started the day at Dunking Donuts. I for the Turkey Sausage flatbread (7PP) and iced coffee with cream. Later I snacked on some cherry tomatoes and hummus. We ended up making salads for dinner which was perfect.

Friday we went back to an old favorite recipe of ours. Turkey Robinson with baked shroom rice. I had seen this recipe years ago on 5 Ingredient fix and have always loved it. I started substituting the quinoa instead of the rice and kale instead of spinach. These recipes are easy to make and delicious. The turkey Robinson recipe says that it is 4 servings, but I have always gotten 6 servings out of it. If you get 6 servings then each serving is 6PP. The baked shroom rice is 6 servings, each serving being 3PP.

Saturday was a busy day working on the house. We cut baseboards for the guest room, installed a light on the ceiling fan and just worked on little project. I went to weigh in on Saturday since WW was closed Wednesday, my normal weigh in day. I gained 0.8lbs. I look at this as not being too bad since I was eating like it was holiday time. Staying focused again this week and I will go back to regular Thursday posts after my Wednesday meeting!